SessionScope
A B2B admin tool for the internal teams of a tutoring company to enhance their management scope of online 1:1 tutor sessions.
Impacted
Tutors
Tutors
40k
Management
Scope↑
Scope↑
52%
Company
Varsity Tutors
my role
Design Lead
timeline
7 months, Spring 2024
team
1 Designer (Me), 1 PM, 1 Researcher, 2 Developers
Client & USer
Targets at Tutor management teams in varsity tutors
Our solution is designed for tutor management teams at Varsity Tutors, an online platform offering 1:1 tutoring services with contractor tutors. The goal is to expand management capacity and improve efficiency in overseeing tutoring sessions.
Problem
Heavy workload & inefficient methods
Everyday, the team have to review about 800 tutoring sessions.
Of which, over 600 sessions are overlooked, making it a huge pain for the team.
Manual review methods are inefficient.
Such as watching recordings and flagging, which is cumbersome and inefficient.
How might we streamline the workflow of session selection and evaluation?
Solution BReakdown
Assessment Dashboard with built-in LLM evaluation
Session list & filter: Quickly select the target sessions
Session Details: see qualitative and quantitative results
Long-term tracking: tutor's performance trend
challenges
Starting with business goals to uncover user needs
What are the challenges in their routine tasks?
To understand the challenges in the tutor management workflow, we conducted a focused group discussion and an observation study using the think-aloud technique. The workflow was then summarized in a diagram, outlining key steps and pain points.
Challenge #1: Heavy manual effort in session selection
Identifying "bad" sessions is time-consuming and inefficient, slowing down the review process.
Challenge #2: inconsistent evaluation standards
Video-based evaluations lead to varying standards across teams and inefficiencies in assessing tutor performance.
challenge 1
How to build an efficient review workflow
Problem: "How can I review a lot of sessions quickly?"
Solution: A comprehensive session list displaying key session details and risk areas, plus a filtering system to prioritize reviews.
Approach: Co-design & layout testing to refine the workflow.
challenge 2
How to transform complex results into clear visuals
Problem: "I notice issues, but I struggle to articulate them."
Solution: A dashboard that presents qualitative and quantitative data in a structured, multi-layered format.
Approach: Data categorization, wireframing visualizations, and selecting the most effective designs.
Implementation & handoff
Collaboration & Challenges with the Dev Team
Handling Missing States
I added three interface designs for the session list table: empty, loading, and mismatch states to cover all possible scenarios and improve usability.
Implementation & handoff
How do users feel about our solution
Usability Test
❓ Type: Product walkthrough & interview
📍 Location: On Zoom
🧑 Participants: 8
⏱️ Length: About 30 minutes each participant
📍 Location: On Zoom
🧑 Participants: 8
⏱️ Length: About 30 minutes each participant
Insight #1: 5 out of 8 users are confused about the top-down sequence of the evaluation page, which is inconsistent with their daily workflow.
--> Restructured the page for logical reviewing sequence.
--> Restructured the page for logical reviewing sequence.
Insight #2: Some terms and diagrams are not that easy to understand from the first sight. We got 9 questions about the meaning of a term in the test.
--> Added annotations and tooltips for the diagrams and terms.
--> Added annotations and tooltips for the diagrams and terms.
Insight #3: Some filter sliders are not intuitive that 4 out of 8 users were stuck at the session filter step.
--> Changed the "silence" slider to checkboxes for quickly selection.
--> Changed the "silence" slider to checkboxes for quickly selection.
Results
Impact & Growth: What We Achieved
40k
Impacted
Tutors
Tutors
52%
Management
Scope↑
Scope↑
4/6
Pivot Points
I Drove
I Drove
“The labels for risky areas in the table are fantastic! They highlight session problems, making it easy to pinpoint issues.”
-- Customer Retention Team
“Narrowing down the session review scope has been a game-changer! We can now review a much larger data set and quickly spot problematic sessions.”
-- Session Review Team
“Tracking tutors' performance over time is incredibly useful. I can easily switch between ‘Session’ and ‘Tutor’ views to analyze problems within a broader context.”
-- Tutor Management Team
reflection
Internal tools make huge impact
They might seem minor, but internal tools are vital. Through this project, I saw how well-designed tools can enhance employee experience, streamline workflows, and drive meaningful growth.
Over-communication builds rapports
I led 18 review sessions and 5 workshops during this project—numbers that would have surprised my past self. Now, I see that sometimes over-communication is the key to effective collaboration.